Ha Ha Clinton-Dix ready to show Jets, Rex Ryan what he can do

Green Bay Packers v Seattle Seahawks

Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images

Quaterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks escapes the tackle attempt of safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix #21 of the Green Bay Packers at Century Link Field on September 4, 2014 in Seattle, Washington.

Quaterback Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks escapes the tackle attempt of safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix #21 of the Green Bay Packers at Century Link Field on September 4, 2014 in Seattle, Washington. (Jonathan Ferrey, Getty Images)

At No. 18 overall, the Jets had their pick of Clinton-Dix or Calvin Pryor.

"I took the guy who will knock your face in," Ryan said on a conference call.

As in Pryor. As in not Clinton-Dix. No laughing from Ha Ha here. The Green Bay Packers safety's face turned stern, his words direct.

"I'm not afraid to do that at all," Clinton-Dix said. "And you're going to continue to see that out of me. If that's what they thought, hey, that's on him. I'm going to show him."

He'll get his chance this afternoon with Ryan front and center.

Clinton-Dix was unpolished, even sloppy at times in the Packers' season-opening loss at Seattle — but he also showed snapshots of being precisely what this position has lacked the last two seasons.

Snapshots of playmaking. He sacked Russell Wilson. He nearly had an interception. He recovered a fumble. And, yes, he'll lower his right shoulder, too. Week 1 was a friendly reminder that using a rookie safety for 40 snaps carries risk disclaimer.

In need of a true X-factor deep, odds are the Packers ride this roller coaster.

When Ryan's comments are brought up again, after the cameras depart, Clinton-Dix shakes his head and pauses.

"It is what it is," he said. "I can't take anything away from Pryor — that's my boy. He's a hell of a hitter. He does his thing. It was the same thing in college. He had the ability to roam around. I had to play in a scheme."

So doesn't he wish he could fly around?

Clinton-Dix's expression tells you to slow down with that logic.

"Oh, it's going to happen," Clinton-Dix assured. "I do it now. I fly around. On the sack I had, I was freelancing. That just goes to show, it can happen."

This was the crux of the Clinton-Dix/Pryor debate in May. One safety (Pryor) had the license to roam, to pinball throughout Louisville's defense. One (Clinton-Dix) did not.

On Wednesday, Clinton-Dix said Green Bay's defense was the "same exact scheme" he had at Alabama. Players must buy in. You make plays within the framework of the X's and O's, of defensive backs playing off each other. Not as a rogue headhunter.

Yet in Seattle, Clinton-Dix was around the ball.

In Cover 2 late in the first half, he said he had a feeling the quarterback would go deep. Test him. As Clinton-Dix explains, Wilson thought the safety would shade toward the second receiver in running up the seam. Only, Clinton-Dix read Wilson's eyes and broke on the long ball along the boundary.

Clinton-Dix dropped the pick, but he was at least in position for a pick.

"This system is set up for certain people to make certain plays at certain times," Clinton-Dix said. "When your time is called, your time is called."

Rotating with Micah Hyde, Clinton-Dix played 40 of 65 snaps. In dime, both were on the field. That number will likely grow as the season progresses because, plainly, this is a defense in need of turnovers.

Clinton-Dix never knocked out players in back-to-back-to-back games like Pryor last fall. He is, unlike the starter in 2013, decisive. He feels no limitations mentally. Clinton-Dix said he knows the playbook. The defensive backs notice, too.

"He's a playmaker," Burnett said. "He can make plays."

Ryan gets defensive when Pryor's coverage skills are questioned, saying Pryor "can do it all." Run. Cover. And, yes, make you think twice about that crossing route. To him, Pryor is no box safety.

"He's an overall safety that's going to be a force for years and years," Ryan said. "He is a hitter and that will be recognized early."

Clinton-Dix made it clear Wednesday he was not pleased with his performance. The missed tackles must be eliminated. On the 33-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Lockette, Clinton-Dix says he should have collected himself with "a few more steps" before diving at the receiver's legs.

Against the Jets' new ground-and-pound duo of Chris Ivory and Chris Johnson, tackling across the defense must improve. One is a Marshawn Lynch Lite; the other once pulled a 4.24 in the 40.